Pages

Monday, January 7, 2013

What is Holding Back Natural Gas as the Transportation Fuel of the Future?

The natural gas revolution has brought big changes to the U.S. energy
scene. Natural gas prices, which used to move closely together with oil
prices, have plunged in the last five years, as the following chart
shows. One result has been the rapid displacement of coal by natural gas
in electric power generation. According to a recent report
from the Union of Concerned Scientists, some 100 gigawatts of
coal-fired electric plants, representing more than a quarter of coal
capacity and nearly a tenth of total U.S. electric capacity, have either
been closed or are likely soon to be closed because they have become
uncompetitive with natural gas. Natural gas has also been displacing oil
at a rapid rate as a home heating fuel. In transportation, however, the
use of natural gas is spreading more slowly.
Transportation ranks second only to electric power generation in
total energy use. There are at least three ways to use natural gas to
power transportation. One is to generate electricity with natural gas,
which can then power electric cars or electrified rail lines. Another is
to convert natural gas to liquids like methanol or synthetic gasoline.
However, as I discussed in this post
two years ago, the biggest potential lies in the direct use of
compressed natural gas (CNG) or liquid natural gas (LNG) as a fuel for
natural gas vehicles (NGVs). >>>Read more

No comments:

Post a Comment

Search Ed Dolan's Econ Blog

My Textbook

Sixth edition of my textbook, Introduction to Economics published by BVT Publishing. A complete macro/micro principles textbook package in print or e-book versions at a fraction of the price of competitors. Click on image for more details.

TANSTAAFL: A Libertarian Perspective on Environmental Policy published by Searching Finance. This new Version 40.0 of my 1971 classic updates the discussion of a wide variety of environmental issues with new commentaries on climate change, energy policy, ecosocialism, and more. Click on image to purchase.

A Resource Center for Teaching Economics

The goal of this blog is to promote economic literacy. When I started it, I expected my readers to be mainly teachers of economics, and there are many of those, but it has also attracted a wider audience who simply want a better understanding of the economic world around them.

Many of the posts on this blog are republished with permission from the website of the Niskanen Center, where I contribute as a Senior Fellow, and from other web-based publications.